REDCLIFF, AB — A petition opposed to garbage bin changes was passed around the council chamber before the town council meeting began Monday night.
Roughly 30 residents attended the meeting. They sat quietly, waiting as the informal petition made its way around the room.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Mayor Dwight Kilpatrick.
“This is the second time you guys have come and it seems like when you go home and you didn’t speak, then we read about it,” he said, addressing the crowd.
A group of Redcliff residents have taken to social media to share their frustrations.
Councillors voted to enter into negotiations to replace the back alley bins with curbside pick-up for garbage and recycling.
Residents had been told that in order to speak, they’d need to submit a written request in line with the procedural bylaw.
“There are very specific clauses in there that tell us how to run a meeting,” he said following the council meeting.
But Kilpatrick did give the residents roughly 30 minutes to voice their concerns.
“How could you pass this?” asked one resident, raising his voice. “You don’t have the information!”
“Well, we had a fair amount of information,” Kilpatrick said back.
Resident Joy Harper wanted to know why council hadn’t gone to the residents first.
“Where do we put it when we bring it back if we have a front drive? By the back door? Do you want your garbage by your back door?” she asked.
“I don’t approve of what these guys have done,” said resident Mark Payne. “They’re supposed to be working for the people. They’re not working for the people.”
Payne wants to keep collection the way it is.
“They did this by not letting anybody know,” he added. “They hid it.”
“It would be great if we could just divulge all of our ‘secrets’,” said Kilpatrick, motioning air quotes as he said secrets. “But when you’re in contract negotiations, that’s not the right thing to do.”
A few residents were quick to call the move shady, even questioning who they’d elected back in October.
“How do you get rid of a whole council once you’ve voted them in?” Harper asked.
“There have been people that have contacted me on one-on-one and actually tried to have reasonable conversation and that’s great,” Kilpatrick said, adding he’s open to continuing that discussion in the future.
